The journey of Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, is one of the most closely watched stories surrounding the team this season. Bronny has played only sparingly for the Lakers so far, which is expected, but he will also be spending time with the South Bay Lakers of the G League.
This makes sense as Bronny needs live game reps in order to develop and the G League is the best place for him to do so. However, it was reported that Bronny would only be playing in South Bay home games and not actually be traveling with them as he splits time with the Lakers main roster.
As for why the Lakers have chosen to go in this direction for his development, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst opened up to the reasoning on his recent episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast:
“He’s only going to play in the South Bay Lakers’ home games. He’s only going to kind of be a part-time G League player, and he’s not getting on United Airlines to fly to these road games. I know he’s getting somewhat special treatment and nepotism. That’s fine; honestly, I don’t care. Like I said, it’s normal. Now, I think it’s actually detrimental to him. I don’t like that. I don’t know whose idea it was, but obviously, the Lakers are fine with it—they’re doing it. On this particular instance, I think that’s gone too far, and I don’t think it benefits Bronny. I don’t think it benefits the South Bay Lakers, and I don’t think it benefits LeBron at this point.”
There is no doubt that there is some preferential treatment and nepotism going on with Bronny, but those things happen throughout all of sports and the world in general. Bronny isn’t the first or the last person to benefit from who his father is, and regardless of that he works extremely hard and the entire Lakers franchise appreciates him.
It is worth questioning whether this is best for his development, however. It does make things a bit more difficult for the South Bay Lakers as they will constantly have to adjust between home and road games depending on if Bronny is playing or not, and he will be sacrificing those valuable reps and minutes he would get in the G League in order to be with the main Lakers roster and rarely see court time.
There is a balance and the Lakers are trying to walk that thin line, but everything having to do with Bronny will be followed very closely as has been proven since the moment he was drafted. The Lakers have also shown that plans can change depending on the circumstance, so that could also be the case for Bronny down the road.
Lakers’ Bronny James embracing buzz he brings to the G League
Bronny James recently had his debut in the G League, finishing with six points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in the South Bay Lakers’ victory over the Salt Lake City Stars.
Tickets for the game were sold out and there was much more media coverage than a normal G League contest and afterwards, Bronny spoke about embracing that buzz surrounding him.
“I’ve seen all the buzz from me going to the G,” James said. “It’s just an amazing experience for me to go out and play my game and get some minutes under me. I’m just excited for it.”
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